Rules Are Made to be Broken
by cataclysmiic
Summary: A trip to the beach, and my take on what would happen if Jean surrendered to her feelings to Logan and how it would happen . 1st posted story. Complete.
1. Rules are made to be broken

Disclamer- I don't own Jean Grey or Logan....though I sure wish I did. This mostly movie verse, so I don't own Famke Janssen or Hugh Jackman either! *sigh* I sure wish I did though...God only knows the kinky stuff I would do with them, a video camera, and an okay by the producers of X-Men/X2 to direct X3...:) '

NOTE: First time I posted this, some things got screwed up so I'm having another go. Hopefully it will work.. Be patient, this IS the first story I've ever posted. :) R/R please!

  
  


Jean whipped off the pair of sunglasses that had been perched on top of her head, and returned them to their real use: to shade her sun-scorched eyes and make for a sexy accessory. Warm, rough, and thoroughly pleasant air rushed at her face and tousled the roots of her fiery hair, shimmering with golden highlights from the blazing sun. She stretched her neck and leaned her head back against the sleek leather headrest of the seat she was lounging in. Closing her large emerald eyes, she smiled and moaned. This felt so good...

Suddenly Logan's voice coming a few inches to the left, from the drivers seat, filled her ears.

"I told you that this was going to be the most relaxing day you've had in years, Jeanie..." he mused. His voice was like ecstasy for her senses, and she responded with another long moan of pleasure.

They were speeding down a long and straight back road, abandoned at this time of day, and surrounding them were endless miles that stretched in every direction of burnt-orange sand and high, Indian-red plateaus in the distance. There was the occasional sagebrush and intensely green cactus alongside the road, but other than that completely barren and desolate. The fireball sun burned high in the clear, orange-tinged, cloudless expanse of desert sky, overseeing all of this.  
Seated comfortably and relaxed in a sleek, shockingly red sports convertible, Jean and Logan sped along this Californian road that seemed to go on forever...

"How 'bout some music?" Logan asked, one hand expertly gripping the leather steering wheel while the other wandered the dashboard controls. Jean laughed and smiled broadly, but made no other response.

There was a moment of silence filled only with the calming sound of rushing wind flying past them rapidly and the energizing zoom of the convertible covering yards of dirt road per second, before Logan had the radio on and turned to a station of his liking. A beat pulsed through the large speakers at the back of the car and made the doors, seats and dash thump with it. Jean could feel her chair vibrating with the excellent bass and giggled at the sensation. Suddenly the beat broke out into an explosion of drums and electric guitars, along with 80's style yelled lyrics.  
  
Take me down to Paradise City   
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty  
Oh, won't you please take me home...  
  
Take me down to Paradise City  
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty  
Oh, won't you please take me home  
  
Jean laughed out loud as she looked to Logan who was strumming away at his own electric guitar in mid-air, abandoning his driving duties, the wind rushing wildly through his thick, dark hair and his jet black over shirt billowing back and revealing his toned muscles under the fitted white tank top...it gave Jean the impression of a true wannabe Axl Rose. Logan turned and smiled a rugged, wolf-like smile at Jean, a sight she craved for every day, and he sang at the top of his lungs, "TAKE ME DOWN TO THE PARADISE CITY, WHERE THE GRASS IS GREEN AND THE GIRLS ARE PRETTY! TAKE, ME, HOME!" He substituted the steering wheel for a drum set now as he pounded it with his coarse palms in a steady and hard beat. He was being silly and he knew it, but anything to hear the enchanting sound of Jean's laughter, to see those delicious lips curve into a seductive smile.

"You know what you're doing to me, don't you?" Jean yelled to him over the pulsing music, smiling sweetly, her hair blowing across her face in the harsh wind.

Logan grinned back at her wickedly, assuring her he knew how badly she wanted him right then, but also assuring her he felt the same with a flick of his eyes to her lips, then running a tongue briefly along his own. As if they needed to trade looks to acknowledge how they felt about one another...  
Logan continued to pound away at the steering wheel as Jean sighed desperately, grinning widely, and looked out her side of the car to the wide expanse of beautiful and desolate desert scenery, shaking her head to let the wind billow her hair out behind her.  
  



	2. I want to taste you but your lips are ve...

Alrighty, chapter 2 up. Got 2 whole reviews, thanks guys! I appreciate it immensely. :) Maybe I'll aim for 3 this time...haha.. (BTW I'm taking some of what I wrote to be Storm's opinion of what Jean and Logan's relationship is more or less from a few things she said to Jean in the novelization of X2...don't kill me if it doesn't seem right to you...it's just sort of what I got out of reading it =D That and my power over her opinions in my story...heh heh)   


The X-Men had flown The Blackbird, their high-tech, advanced model of a jet, from Westchester, New York where they lived at Xavier's mansion and school for gifted youngsters, to where they were at the moment, San Diego, California. They had traveled the coast of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina before flying straight west to their destination. The reason they had come was being kept mostly between Scott and Professor Xavier.  Charles had some business on the west coast that he had vaugley stated he "had to take care of ".

Scott, being the head of the X-Men, had come to assist him and Logan and Jean had been brought as "safety precautions", although they all knew it was because Jean was the only one besides Ororo who could fly The Blackbird without bringing it to crash and burn somewhere in-between Atlanta and Phoenix. Ororo had volunteered to babysit the kids at the school while they were away for the nine days, and Jean had the sneaking suspicion from her farewell wink that she did it so that she and Logan could spend some "quality" time together. Storm had always told her that she'd like to see her and Logan have a small fling, just so they could get it over and done with and, on a more serious note, to discover if the butterflies Jean felt whenever she was near Logan were truly what she felt they were.

Jean grinned at the thought of Scott's reaction to the news that his baby was going to be totally alone with Logan for a whole week while he and Xavier set the affairs straight.

"But...Jean, don't you think it would be better if you stayed?  Storm's always said she'd love to visit San Diego..."

"I already offered, sweetie.  She evidently has her heart set on a few days quality time with the kids," Jean had assured him as she packed her clothes neatly into a suitcase.

"Well-I..." he seemed to be struggling for any excuse without mentioning what he was really worked up about.

Jean clicked the suitcase closed and turned to look at her beau.

"What's up, Scott?  Is something wrong?"

"Jean, I'm...worried about you being along with Logan for that long."

"Aw, sweetie..." she has stepped closer and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "Don't worry about that." she smiled and turned away again.

"It's not you I'm worried about, It's him." Scott replied, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Scott," she had said reassuringly, looking him in the face. "Logan is one of my closest friends...we have a mutual respect. If I tell him the limit, he wouldn't even dream of crossing it."

"I hope so," Scott sighed.

Though she loved Scott with all her heart, though even after all these years together he still made her feel light-headed after a deep kiss, she couldn't help thinking he was too overprotective of her. He was never this way before Logan had arrived. Jean couldn't blame him, though. Since she and Logan had locked eyes months ago it was all she could do but restrain herself mentally and physically from responding to her primal instincts and throwing herself at him hard, and engulfing those rough lips in a heated and passionate kiss.

Now here she was, almost a week later, cruising along in this hot California sun on such a perfect day it was almost overwhelming and having one of the most relaxing and enjoyable times she could ever remember having. She was risking shattering her strong relationship with Scott, she knew, every time she snuck off with Logan like this...

For months she had dreamt about what it would be like to indulge in this affair, to be carefree and let go of everything she had worked so hard to establish with Scott.  Mostly what she fantasized about, though, was reacting how she truly wanted to to Logan's flirtatious behavior. All the playful touching, eyebrow-raising conversation, looking deep into her eyes...God, those eyes...

Logan's dark amber eyes were like two fleeting daggers stinging Jean's heart whenever she looked into them. She had never been able to look into Scott's bare eyes, for her own safety, and that's why she especially craved gazing into Logan's, so full of black passion for her.

And then there were the thoughts Jean picked up from him on rainy nights when thick drops pounded the windows at midnight and the loneliness was so thick in the air as you lie awake and restless in your bed, staring out the window up into the dark and desolate night sky. Such forsaken and desperate thoughts it brought tears to Jean's eyes and made her want to kiss Logan so badly her whole body ached.


	3. Like rain, tax, it's inevitable

YAY! =D I got like four nice reviews on the last chapter, thanks a lot guys. I appreciate it ever so much! Anyway, here's chapter three...bit of a *magical* one! lolol 

R & R, R & R! =D

  
  


Everything that existed between them had been turned upside-down in one evening...lines had been crossed, barriers had been forgotten and it had felt so good.  
Jean still remembered that sunset so vividly. She had escaped the noisy evening study hall to take refuge at her favorite feature of the whole mansion.  
Sitting on top of the roof, high above the grounds, she felt free of everything. There were no thoughts to be intercepted up here, and there was nothing to put strain on her telekenisis. The air was warm and clear, the breeze chilled and refreshing. It was a perfect contrast, and Jean could stay up here for hours. Scott was away from the school for the week taking a few of the kids into New York City on a quick field trip before they went home for the summer months.  
She sat, her long legs folded back behind her, her jade eyes squinted against the occasional breeze and brilliantly golden dusk that was settling in all around her. Jean felt him approaching before she saw him.  
"Hey, Logan." she said without turning to look at him.  
He said nothing, but sat down close beside her.  
There was a minute or two of silence before Jean spoke again.  
"Isn't it beautiful?"  
Her eyes reflected the deep, shimmering tones of blood red, sherbert orange, champagne gold, sparkling amber and blazing magenta that hovered around her.  
"...the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Logan murmured, but he was not looking at the stunning display of colors in the sky.  
It took a second before Jean realized this, her smile quickly fading into something far more serious as she gazed into his eyes.  
There was hardly any hesitation on Logan's part as he reached over and softly brushed a lock of glistening scarlet hair from her eyes, her face illuminated a beautiful bronze in the radiant light.  
He had imagined this moment for an eternity, trying many times and failing to actually make it come true. Though somehow tonight, he had a feeling Jean would not push him away. Maybe it was the knowledge that Scott was nowhere nearby. Maybe it was the was the way she was biting her bottom lip, concentrating intensively on his eyes, looking as if she was contemplating which decision to make. Somehow she knew tonight had to be the night to choose and end this mess once and for all, or to just make it worse.   
No, she couldn't. She loved Scott. Really, she did...  
...But Scott wasn't here...and God, how long had she wanted Logan? And how badly?  
A deep feeling of forbidding began to creep all over Jean's body...  
  
She looked so beautiful, Logan thought. On any day, with her grace and wisdom, Jean could easily put a magnificent, powerful, flowing waterfall in nature to shame. Also with her intense cunning, mystery and fierceness she could make a dazzling show of white-hot silver lightning and crackling black thunder seem nothing more than a drizzling rain on a cloudy day. The smile that graced her mouth and lips every day, her green eyes as deep and expansive as the ocean, the curve of her hips, the sound of her voice...  
"Logan..." she breathed as he leaned in closer, but so slowly it was painful.  
"Jean," he said, the word sounding like pure sugar falling from his perfect lips...it sounded flawless murmured in his deep voice and Jean's breathing began to tremble.  
She suddenly reached up to touch Logan's lips with her fingertips, coming to her decision and abandoning every thought in her mind, most of which involving Scott, with great difficulty. She needed to find out where this would go...  
Logan smiled and kissed the inside of her palm. The way Jean had held her hand out to him, so apprehensive and curious, reminded Logan of how a young girl would approach a mysterious looking puppy...and to Jean's surprise he was very soft and gentle.  
A single tear slid down Jean's cheek as Logan leaned in and kissed her. She closed her eyes and savored the taste of his lips, the feel of his cheek as she placed a hand delicately along his jaw.  
Logan had already cupped the side of her neck in his hand, rubbing his thumb softly over the spot where he could feel her pulse. He had to make sure this was real...  
The sweet lilac scent that was strictly Jean intoxicated his senses as he opened his mouth to take more of her in.  
An explosion of feelings, hearts racing faster than the speed of light, butterflies burning pleasure in the pits of their stomachs, both desperately seeking more of each other....  
  
Jean still got those scorching butterflies in her stomach remembering that kiss, that heavenly, luscious kiss that had caused an epiphany in both their lives . She believed those butterflies may very well be imprinted there forever.  
Staring over at his hands still pounding away on the steering wheel, she felt and overwhelming urge to feel them wander her whole body...she had never felt safer with anyone in her life than she did when enclosed in Logan's firm embrace.  
Suddenly Jean slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and slid a few inches to the left until she could lean her head against his strong shoulder.  
He looked down at her and smiled. If only she truly knew how recklessly he had dreamed about this....  
She took one of his arms, sending sparks rattling off his skin, and snaked it around her waist. He gave her a small squeeze and she grinned in response.  
Logan now hovered his lips around Jean's ear.  
"I love you, darlin'."  
She shifted her head from it's comfortable position on his shoulder to look at him through sun-glassed eyes. With a gentle hand, she splayed her fingers though his dark hair and lowered him into a ravenous kiss, moaning slightly at the way her head began to spin with the sensation.  
"I think you could quite possibly be the best thing that's ever happened to me," she murmured back into his ear, still cupping the back of his head. They both smiled at one another once more before they parted reluctantly and Logan went back to concentrating on the road while Jean sat and enjoyed the warmth that spread throughout her veins starting at the place where Logan's hand was resting so intimately on her body.


	4. It would have been nothing to die for yo...

Mmmmkay! Chapter 4 now. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, everyone :) It makes my day to see that *New Review Alert* hit my e-box...

Anyway, hope yall like this chapter. If you have any suggestions or whatever of what you'd like to see...do tell because I've only written about 2 more chapters after this so far in the story! I have an idea of where it's going, but it might help to have a few suggestions. :) Also, big shout-out to my friend Beth, who is the reason I began this silly fic! *waves* Hi Beth! Have the lambs stopped screaming...? *evil laughter fading away in the background...*

  
  
  
  


All that Jean could recall about that explosive summer evening after their kiss was scrambling back downstairs to Logan's bedroom, thankfully not meeting anyone along the way, and casting a telepathic and telekinetic shield all along the walls so that she could sense anyone approaching, and to seal this room off so that none of the approaching could hear, feel, or see anything going on inside of it.  
She remembered being pushed softly onto the bed by Logan, remembered the way his lips felt along her neck as he whispered quietly into her ear, making sure she wanted to do this. Remembered pulling at the back of his head to make him look directly into her eyes, dripping deep temptation, and whispering back the truthful answer before pulling him back down with her, tugging at the neckline of his black tank-top with impatient fingers.  
Remembered that tingling blissful feeling as his tongue crept along her neck and lips, how she had gladly welcomed his hands, so soft and torturously slow, onto her unclothed skin...  
...Remembered her throat bursting into excruciating flames from screaming his name over and over again...  
  
  
Jean shivered in her seat, remembering all the things Logan had done to her that night, and she to him...  
She hated to admit it, but she had never shared that kind of sultry euphoria with Scott, never felt as if both hell and nirvana had merged with such an earth-shattering clash because the person she was with had satisfied her so completely, in every single way she could think of.  
When she was with Logan, she felt such fascination and attraction towards him, her whole body became hot-as-fire then cascaded into cold-as-ice...she felt constantly on a natural high and she knew from what she had experienced that amazing night that this was true, that this was not going to stop, that from one glance Logan had stolen equal parts of her heart and soul, and that she had done the same to him.  
Jean had decided, lying in his arms that night, that she could no longer deny her feelings for Logan, nor did she want to. They had both craved this for so long, they had craved it so badly, and now that they had explored it at long last, discovered it was sweeter and more sacred than they would have ever dreamed, Jean nor Logan could give it up.  
She had taken his hand as he slept that night and placed a small kiss on his wrist with warm lips, sealing in it a promise to him of everything she felt at that moment. Scott no longer mattered at this point in time...nothing really mattered...everything in Jean's life had been put on a stand-still and all that existed anywhere had disappeared completely.  
Logan had flickered his eyes open to look at the back of her head, resting on his chest peacefully, and felt such a wave of relief and ecstasy he thought it must have been the purest thing he had ever felt. He loved this woman, he wanted her more than his life, more than anything...and now he had her. For how long, he wasn't sure, but then and there was all that mattered. Taking his hand that was laced with her fingers from the spot where it rested on the cool white sheets, Logan returned Jean's kiss onto her own wrist.  
"You're amazing," he thought to Jean, knowing she was awake. She quickly caught the message in her mind's web and smiled against his chest, eyes still closed.  
"Oh, Logan, stop...you're making me blush..." she shot back telepathically.  
"I'd say I was doing more than just making you blush, Jean..."   
"You nasty thing, you." she grinned.  
"They don't call me Wolverine for nothin'..." he grinned also.  
"Whoever "they" are must not know you like I do, or else they would have called you "Meteor Strike", or some natural disaster..."  
There was a pause before Logan replied.  
"Was that a compliment, darlin'?"  
"Your call, sweetheart." she thought sarcastically.  
"Well, thank you, then."   
She laughed out loud and gave his hand a small squeeze.   
They laid in silence for a few minutes after this, letting the blue-silver moonlight cast mysterious shadows through the weightless curtains, glazing the room with contrasting darkness and light. It illuminated their bare skin and the soft white sheets in a deep and gorgeous sapphire glow.  
"Logan..." Jean's thoughts snuck softly into Logan's mind once more as they both drifted into an exhausted and dreamless sleep. Logan responded with a vague "Hm?"  
"You're amazing too." she smiled.  
He chuckled slightly and pulled her closer.  



	5. Ain't it funny how a moment can change y...

Hello again! Well, here's yet another chapter. I've decided to make all the chapters from now on a bit longer, because I realized the others are freakishly short! Heh. This one is exceptionally long, though...I'm not sure why...maybe to make up for the other smaller ones. Plus, this is sort of an important chapter, anyway. So, enjoy it!! BBBIIIGGGG hugs to everyone who reviewed, it makes my day, really it does. *dance dance* I'd throw a big L/J shipper party for everyone who reviewed if I could, but alas...it would be quite difficult. Anyway, I really, really hope you all like this chapter, and please, please, please review! :-D

~ . , * - . - * . , ~ . , * ~ - . ;

In the weeks to come, Jean had kept her promise to Logan, no matter how tough or ridiculous things became with Scott being back and the rest of the X-Men and all the students filling the mansion. It was hard, she admitted, not to declare the whole thing a mistake and to never speak about it again.  
Scott was perfect. He was sweet, charming, handsome, loving, strong and sensitive all at the same time. He and Jean had been together since they had first arrived at the school. Jean truly loved him and felt that she would rather kill herself and break his heart...but Logan seemed to make Scott fade away whenever Jean was with him.   
The love she and Scott had shared for so long was strong, but subtle and almost mechanic, almost automatic. It had just always been there, something for the both of them to lean back on when necessary. The love that Jean had always dreamed about was not what she and Scott had, but what she and Logan now had. Always surprising, untamable, ever-growing, wild, passionate...that rare thing that made you thank God everyday for what you have, for your past, for your present, for your future...for your life.  
The intense force that was Jean and Logan's affair was what she had always wanted, craved for, and when compared to she and Scott's little support system...that was when Jean laughed silently to herself, shaking her head, and let that wave of relief and bliss spill over her.  
Logan knew, and accepted, that even now Jean still loved Scott, still shared a part of herself with him, no matter how much either of them wished she wouldn't. But he also loved her, and he was too afraid to loose her so he never let her finish when she began talking to him about how they were going to keep this going without Scott finding out, or how they would break it to him when the time came, or if maybe one day this would have to end. It broke Logan's heart whenever she looked at him, concerned tears filling her eyes, telling him that she didn't want to do this to him, that she didn't want to hurt him or to make him jealous.  
It was always his fingers reaching up to softly hush her and to wipe away any stray tears, murmuring that none of that mattered. Jean would smile slightly and nod at the certainty in his voice, leaning in for a deep kiss. It was these moments that all the tears, frustration and confusion melted away.

~ . , * - . - * . , ~ . , * ~ - . ;  
  
"Can ya' smell that fresh ocean air?" Logan yelled to no one in particular as they drew nearer and nearer to the coast.  
Jean grinned.   
"How long until we actually get there?" she asked sarcastically.  
"Aw, c'mon Jean! Ride's half the fun..." he grinned back.  
The scenery lining the road had begun to change from that orange wasteland to slightly greener with scattered palm trees. The air indeed smelled fresher, saltier, and Jean could imagine the ocean being just around the bend as the air became dense and heavy with moisture.  
"Damn, I'm thirsty," Logan declared suddenly. "It's all the salt in the air. Get me somethin' good outta the back, would ya' darlin'?"  
Jean lifted her head from his shoulder and turned around, the upper half of her body buried deep in the back-seat as she searched for the cooler. When she reemerged and flopped back beside Logan, she had two bottles clutched in her fist. She smiled and held one out to Logan, who took it, but frowned as he glanced at the label.  
"Cranberry Oceanspray?" he asked, sounding put-out.  
Jean laughed and looked to Logan pointedly.  
"No open bottles of alcohol allowed inside moving vehicles in the state of California. What did you expect? Me to bring a six pack of Budweiser along and get pulled over?"  
Logan laughed out loud.  
"Pulled over by who?" He gestured around the barren landscape.  
"Better safe than sorry, sweetheart." Jean chimed sweetly. "Drink up!"  
  
~ . , * - . - * . , ~ . , * ~ - . ;   
  
The group had checked into a hotel in the heart of San Diego a week ago. Scott and Jean, of course, were sharing a hotel room and Xavier had gotten he and Logan separate rooms, joking that he didn't want another nightmare berserker attack Marie-style like that of so many months ago back at the mansion.  
For seven days, the schedule had been basically the same. Jean would wake up briefly when Scott woke to go with the Professor early in the mornings, give him a small kiss and tell him to have a good day and stay safe. She'd go back to sleep for an hour or two, then meet Logan in the lobby for breakfast. From then until dinner time, the two were free to do whatever their hearts desired.  
Two or three days out of that week they went out to the swimming pool for a little fresh air and exercise. Jean would soak in the sun by the pool while Logan got the exercise, swimming around and doing cannon-balls off the diving board. They would always talk during these times, because the area was almost always completely deserted. They talked about anything, everything.   
Jean had discovered some very handy information during these little chats, such as Logan preferred boxers to briefs and that he was allergic to raisins...and she had also learned about one terribly embarrassing event back at the school in which Ororo had walked into the bathroom one morning only to find a sopping wet Logan just stepping out of the shower, humming an old Rolling Stones tune. Logan himself had found out his own share of interesting information about Jean that could definitely provoke a gaping mouth if he were to tell anyone at the mansion. 

She had blurted out to him that when she and Scott were students at the school, they had snuck out one summer at midnight with a few other younger friends to go skinny dipping in the outside hot tub, and had gotten quite a shock when a telepathic message had suddenly flashed in her mind from the Professor- 

'' Tsk, tsk, Miss Grey. You're not setting a very good example for the younger students. Kindly put your clothes back on and pass this message along to Mr. Summers...'' 

  


Jean had turned a shade of flushed red and clapped her hands to her mouth after she had told Logan, who was busy getting a kick out of the thought of Jean's face, and of old Cyke trying to be rebellious...  
  
At one point on one of these hot days by the pool, Jean was going off on some boring story about her class and how obnoxious they had become during final exams. Logan took the opportunity to tiptoe out of the pool, dripping wet, and over to Jean who lay relaxed and sprawled out on a lounging chair. Her eyes were closed beneath her sunglasses and he pounced on her, making her stop mid-sentence and shriek with surprise. Picking her up in his arms, his muscles flexing wildly as she flailed about yelling his name in a mock-serious tone, he threw her out into the cool blue water.  
Jean came up sputtering at first, then quickly she stripped and threw her sopping wet tank top to the side of the pool beside the stray sunglasses that had fallen off in the struggle. Making her way back over to him, she muttered maliciously, "Ohh, you shouldn't have done that, Logan...you are so screwed..."  
She brought her right arm up out of the water and aimed her fingers straight at him. Logan immediately stopped laughing as she lifted him slightly up off the cement with her telekinesis and swung him into the pool as well. Luckily the area was deserted so no one saw this, but Jean couldn't have cared less if it was filled with a thousand non-mutants -- she was having the most fun she'd had in years. Logan always seemed to make everything she did with him a day at the zoo and he always brought out the best in her, as she certainly did with him.  
When Logan didn't come up for a few seconds Jean began to panic a little. She called his name once before she felt something pulling at her ankles and was swept down underneath the surface. Logan grinned at her under the water's crystal haze and she smiled back. Grabbing her at first by hand then by waist, he pulled her close and captured her lips with his. Jean's last thought before water rushed into their mouths and they came back up to catch a breath was that Logan tasted like beer, cigars and sex even when he was in a pool filled with sanitizing chlorine.  
When they reemerged, Logan looked over to Jean who was busy pushing her wet hair, stained a deep rose now by the water, out of her eyes. Swimming over, he lunged out at her and dunked her a few times before she gained the advantage, with a little help of her teke, and hooked onto his back firmly. Logan thrashed about, trying to pry her loose as both their lungs ached from laughing so hard and from gasping for breath.  
They goofed around in the pool for an hour or so like two school kids before reluctantly realizing it was almost five and they had to head back in and get dried off before Scott and Xavier arrived back at the hotel.   
After the spontaneity of the afternoon, the evenings seemed dull and endless. Jean and Scott would go out for dinner, and he would tell her of his busy day as she tried hard to look interested during the meal. After what seemed like nothing short of forever, Scott would end abruptly and look to Jean with a small smile, asking how her day went. She would smile back and tell him it went well, she slept in, ate some breakfast...sat around and watched TV until he returned at the end of the day, which was very understandable -- Jean was always sprawled out on the bed with the tube blaring when Scott entered their hotel room. Nodding a bit, Scott would grin then say something like, "sounds like fun" and begin to talk again.  
Jean took this opportunity to really think about things one night. As Scott's mouth formed soundless words, she gazed deeply into his face. She knew this face so well, had memorized every line and freckle, had been able to see straight to this man's soul with a glance -- had linked her own soul with his at a glance and had never known anything but him, his love. But now, as she looked into that face, his ruby quartz glasses reflecting the candle light at their small dinner table, she began to feel terrified.

  


Looking at Scott right now, she felt nothing. She couldn't take her eyes away from his now. Her head didn't spin as it usually would staring at his smile, she didn't feel her skin tingling as his hand held hers on top of the white satin tablecloth. Always when Jean looked at Scott, she felt something she could only describe as magical, that thing that told her she could never leave this man, not even for Logan. Now, she felt empty. Of course she adored Scott, he was a lovely man...but suddenly she felt no reason to be with him anymore.  
Jean couldn't understand how this had happened so abruptly. It was like someone had turned a switch in her head, just like that.  
Quickly she flicked her eyes to look at her hand, enclosed in his, on the table. Her face was slightly contorted as if she had just had the shock of her life, which was not far from the truth. After a moment of thinking frantically for an answer and feeling a sense of loss of direction that was beyond comprehension, the sweet thought of Logan filled her head. His eyes, his smile, his smell, his essence..and she was filled with such a deep and sudden rush of comfort it made her heart briefly stop beating.  
Jean realized wholly and truly now that what she and Logan shared had overcome it's ultimate obstacle, proving it to be a stronger force than any revelation, and more precious than life itself. It was more than love -- it was too powerful to be confined to words.  
Logan's crave for her, his care for her, his own life, his being came over and over Jean, like waves on a beach, only it didn't stop. It went on, and on, and on....  
As she endured this overwhelming consciousness and emotion, she thought frantically to herself that if God really loved all His creatures, even those who have sinned, would He demand that she deny the need she felt for this one man? Even if it meant giving up Scott and risking losing her friends, the people she valued more than her own life...if it meant giving up anything necessary?

"Jean? Jean, honey, are you okay?" Scott's voice sounded, jerking her out of her own mind and crashing her back into reality. She tore her eyes away from where they were rested, transfixed on she and Scott's hands.

"I'm fine," she forced a foolish laugh. "Just zoned out for a moment there." 

She evaded his gaze by staring down at the tablecloth.  
Jean's mental shields were suddenly rammed up, guarding her thoughts from him as hard as she ever had, or probably ever would, guard them in her life. Praying that Scott had not picked up on anything before this, and that she had not projected anything before this, she took her hand away from his and brought it to rest softly on the black rim of her glass of water. Her heart was pounding like mad as she stared up into his face once more.  
"You sure?" Scott asked a little apprehensively.  
Jean's heart began to beat a little more steadily -- he couldn't have heard. He would have said something. She smiled, relieved.  
"I'm sure."  


  
  
  
  



	6. Take me from this lonely river, out into...

Whooo hooo...okay..chapter 6 up now. I hope you all like it :-D Next chapter will probably be a big one, so it'll make up for this little one. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, again, it really helps me and makes me ever so happy. I hope to get some new ones for this chapter :)

  
  


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"My God, that's beautiful!" Jean shrieked triumphantly, smiling as she looked out her side of the convertible at the never-ending expanse of ocean, shaded a sparkling, mystic blue.  
"I told you we'd make it within the next hour!" Logan grinned.  
Jean rolled her eyes and grinned back.  
Their whole surrounding and atmosphere had completely altered now, after almost two and a half hours of driving. The road they sped along was now paved, to the left of it were countless palm trees with cocoa colored trunks and tropical looking plants of all shapes and sizes, their vivid green leaves spread wide with drops of moisture clinging to them like raindrops. To the right was the vast, bright beach. The temperature was hot and damp around them, but pleasantly so. Every now and then heat waves rippled across the still water.  
The same sky above them was clear now, and a brilliant tranquil blue -- the sun bright and alluring. The sound and feel of light ocean breezes grazed their fevered skin, mingling with the rushing air as they sped past, leaving those vivid leaves to rustle restlessly behind them.  
  
* . , ~ . ; * .. . . , * ~ . -   
  
Rain began to fall mercilessly from the wrought iron sky as Jean and Scott drove back to the hotel. The ride was silent and uncomfortable, at least for Jean.  
She stared out of the window, scattered with thousands of diamond raindrops, and wished she had never agreed to come here. Suddenly things began to seem unsolvable and never-ending. She didn't like this feeling of complete and utter helplessness and confusion -- she was lost in her own mind and body. She glanced over at Scott, even he didn't seem real. Looking back out the window, Jean wished desperately to just fade away into the rain, to avoid whatever inevitability was to come now that she felt the way she did...  
  
The car pulled quietly into the hotel parking lot, and Scott softly turned the keys out of the ignition.   
"Let me get the door for you, sweetie, so you don't have to get so wet."  
He opened the door, briefly magnifying the falling rain on the cement before he closed it again and all was silent. Moments later, Scott came around and opened the door, then covered her with his jacket so that she wouldn't be drenched in the rain. Every footstep she took now beside Scott broke her heart.  
"Thank you," Jean murmured as they stepped into the lobby and she helped him to pull off his wet coat.  
"Most welcome." Scott smiled and leaned in, placing a lovingly passionate kiss on her lips.  
When he leaned back out, Jean felt hot tears filling her eyes. She had wanted to push him away just now...it felt...wrong to the way Logan kissed her. This sadness was almost painful. 

As Jean and Scott walked back down the hall to their room, his arm around her waist, the back of Logan's head came into view. He was bending down to pick up a Pepsi from the pop machine just outside his room. 

He sensed her. Dark eyes came around to look at Scott's arm around Jean, then flickered back up to rest on her face. 

"Have a nice evening, you two?" There was sarcasm dripping in his voice. 

"Very enjoyable, thanks." Scott sneered back. 

Logan's eyes never left Jean's, nor did Jean's leave Logan's, and he immediately saw the panic and pleading buried deep beneath the jade. A moment later he had a message blaze across his mind- "Outside, fifteen minutes...please, Logan..." 

A confusion filled Logan's head and he nodded enough for her to see as she and Scott proceeded down the hallway, leaving him standing and staring after them. Jean glanced back briefly before turning the corner. 

Ringing silence consumed Logan for ten long minutes as he leaned up against the wall, tossing his Pepsi can up and down, up and down, up and down... 

Logan was leaning up against the wall again another ten minutes later as he waited for Jean outside the hotel under the shelter of the terrace. Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he stared out at the pouring rain. Thoughts raced through his mind like lightning -- Did Scott find out? Had something gone wrong? Was Jean angry with him...was she going to tell him it was all over between them? Logan could barely stand to think about the last one... 

"Logan?" 

He looked over to see Jean a yard or two away from him. She had her arms folded across her chest, shivering slightly beneath a light jacket. 

"Jeannie," he walked a few paces over to her and embraced her tightly in his arms, also trying to warm her with his own jacket. 

Jean melted into Logan's warm touch and drunk in his scent, it was a relief unlike anything she'd felt before. All the confusion, panic, sadness, anger in the moment faded from her as she clung to Logan. It was like drowning for an eternity, then suddenly a hand reached out to you, to save you from the piercing cold what was flooding your mind and body. 

Jean closed her eyes tightly and let out a choked sob against Logan's shoulder. 

"I'm so glad I have you, baby..." 

Logan rubbed a hand comfortingly up and down her back and placed a kiss on her forehead. 

"You know I'm nothing without you, Jeannie." He placed a finger underneath her chin and pulled her head up to look at him. "Tell me what's wrong." 

Jean looked up at him for a moment before looking past him, up at the rows and rows of lit windows. She spotted she and Scott's and remembered what she had told him just twenty minutes ago...that she was going down to the lobby for a drink and to walk around a bit because she was a little restless and she didn't want to keep Scott up since he needed his sleep. He had hesitated to let her go alone, but she had pinned him by asking what the danger in a quick cup of coffee was. 

Now looking up to the corner room on the fifth floor, she saw Scott still had the light on so she glanced quickly back to Logan. 

"Let's get away from this place, first."

  
  



	7. And if you bleed

Alrighty, back with another chapter! I'm actually cutting this one into two chapters, but it all goes together, it's all the same scene. The only reason I'm not posting it all together is because it would be wayyyy too long. So I guess you could say, back with TWO more chapters! Moohahaha. Anyway, I hope you all like it! :-D I think I got two or three more chapters before I'm done with the story, so I'd just like to thank everyone who reviewed and are enjoying the story yet again! You guys ROCK! 

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Logan nodded and they walked off down the opposite street, the busy traffic rushing past, making puddles of icy water splash up like geysers and making Jean shiver against the cold. 

After they were a block or two away from the hotel, Jean slowed down and sat softly on a dripping wet bench beside the street corner, in front of some towering city buildings. Logan stood for a moment before sitting beside her. 

She stared straight ahead of her, into the blackness, while Logan fixed his gaze on her face, waiting for her to speak...if that was what she was going to do. 

It was a minute or so later before she finally did, breaking the beat of the steady rain. 

"Do you remember...last summer...when you and I took Bobby and Marie out to dinner and a movie? That thing the professor set up, where the chaperones would take the kids out every month or so? And at the movie, Marie screamed so loud that the whole audience started laughing?" 

Logan grinned. He did remember. 

"And she was so embarrassed that we let her pick whatever she wanted on the menu for dinner? She wanted to get that margarita...but you wouldn't let her. I tried to sneak her one, and you caught me." He grinned a bit more. 

Jean managed a small genuine laugh as she nodded her head, still looking ahead of her. A moment later after the laugh had long faded, a ghost of a smile crossed her lips. 

"We had so much fun that night. I still laugh about it all the time with the kids. Scott was away teaching, and so you took his brand new Eclipse..." 

"--And you were so nervous that whole ride," Logan laughed. 

"...During dinner Bobby kept freezing our drinks so the waiter had to constantly bring us refills. I don't know how much of the professor's money I spend on drinks alone that night..." Jean laughed a bit as well. "Marie was giggling the whole time..." 

"Yeah," Logan replied. "It was so obvious that they were hot for each other." 

Jean smirked and hit Logan's shoulder playfully. 

"Now they're a couple, and we witnessed the first sparks." 

"Yeah, guess so." 

Now Jean finally turned to look Logan in the eye. 

"What I'm really trying to say with all this is that tonight at dinner...I don't know what hit me...but suddenly it just felt wrong to be with Scott. Like before, when it would have felt wrong to be with you. Like that night last summer, we had so much fun and then suddenly it was time to go home after the movie was over. We didn't exactly want to, but we didn't really have a choice. Scott and I...somehow it was like the movie was over for us. Just like that...all the years of our relationship, the blood, the sweat, the tears...the love..all vanished. All in one night. And Logan," she looked to him desperately, "you wouldn't believe the sadness and the pain I'm feeling right now... But I also can't tell you how relieved I am." 

Jean's words sunk into Logan slowly as he looked at her, and they filled him with a deep concern that rain through his veins and poured into his soul like a river to an ocean. He wasn't sure what to respond with because somehow he felt words were inadequate. He just wanted to hold her...and it showed in his eyes. 

"Logan," she began again after a moment of silence, of desperate thinking, "I can't tell you how many times I've looked into my heart for the shame I must feel for what I've done. ..For loving you, for cheating on Scott.." 

These last few words felt and tasted like cheap dirt in her mouth, but she endured and overcame it, knowing the greater reason. A pause came before she began again. 

"..But it isn't there." 

Jean looked to him again, her eyes held a distant light and also a contrasting groundedness that showed Logan everything she was feeling at the moment. There was pain and sadness, love and understanding. Too many raging and anxious emotions to count. 

"I can't lie to you, or to Scott...or to myself any longer. I just can't pretend to believe what I do not believe, and I do not believe that my love for you...is wrong.

Thinking about my life without you with me now seems like suicide. Insufferable. You've opened the doors to places in my mind, body and soul that I never knew existed, and would have never known existed if you didn't believe that we could really be something, if you didn't push me. I had never really lived until you taught me how, had never taken the time to taste every single moment, to give into pleasure with no limits... You're the one in my life now, Logan. Scott isn't with me anymore, I can't feel him inside my head...you've more than filled that space." 

The raindrops still fell from the sky now like soft autumn leaves, splashed the ground and drenched their bodies in a waterfall of flickering transparent of silver, but Logan took no notice as he reached up to touch Jean's cheek, slick with the downpour. 

"Jean," His voice held enough emotion to fill even the emptiest of hearts. There were a very few number of times Logan had cried in his life, but this time it was almost unbearable the love and empathy he felt for this one woman. He could feel her mind opening up to him, being a telepath she couldn't really help it that he could experience every emotion she felt right now to almost the same intensity, even on top of what he himself was feeling. 

"You've taught me everything I know that's worth knowing. You...make me want to change, to be better. My past and what happened to me all those years ago was my most burning, consuming ambition...I would have shed as much blood as it took, as many tears, I would have given what was left of my life just to find out who took everything away from me, who stripped me of my soul and replaced them with these," he now slowly slid a single adamantium claw from his left hand, and as soon as it was extended to full length, he looked back up to Jean, his facial features trying to mask the immense physical pain it caused, as it did every time. 

"You make me forget about my past. You make me forget about my anger, my greed, my hate. I forget all about revenge every time I think how lucky I to have you, finally." 

He now slid the blade back into his skin. A diamond of exposed flesh replaced it for a split second, a single drop of scarlet blood was left behind as the wound healed in front of Jean's eyes. She could only imagine what it must feel like to have those inside her body, how much it must hurt. 

A tear burned a trail down Jean's cheek and she took that hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. No one knew Logan like she did. Most people, who didn't know any better, took him for some wandering outsider, filled with rage and bitterness, violence. People were afraid to get too close to him for fear he might leash out and attack, like some bloodthirsty wolf. She knew this because she used to be one of them.

The truth was, Logan was as gentle as the kiss Jean placed on his hand a moment later. No one understood, couldn't begin to believe, even, that he had gone through horrific things that no human being should ever go through, had seen things too gruesome and shocking to even put into words. And Jean knew this first hand. 

All those months ago, he had challenged her to read his mind. She had been skeptical at first, but then that strange, new sensation -- the one that had frankly bewildered her at the time, but she fully understood now -- of feeling she had to prove herself to him took her over. She had seen awful pictures, images, so vague, but the vagueness of it all was one of the key factors that made it so frightening...she had tore out quickly, but not just because Scott had interrupted them. 

But since then, on some hot nights her mind would pick up on his nightmares, experience them at the same time as he was, because they were so intense they invaded her mind without warning. She wouldn't be surprised if Professor Xavier had picked up on them too, let alone every telepath in the institute. Panic stricken and almost screaming, she would wake, wiping the sweat from her forehead and eventually turning over and trying to get back to sleep, always thinking it just couldn't be possible to live with all the tormenting memories Logan had to live with. 

  
  



	8. I bleed with you

Yeah, yeah...sappy I know...but it's my story so back off! XD Heh, anyway here's the second half.

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He didn't deserve this. No one deserved this. No one should have had to witness the things he did. He was quiet about all of it, never letting anyone too close, his pain building up on the inside and as a result, leaving silent scars that no one could ever penetrate through. No one, until Jean. 

Feeling angst-ridden tears now burning in her eyes, Jean thought over and over again, Logan did not deserve this. Who the hell...what kind of animal would do this to a human being as amazing, as warm as Logan? Jean had never in her life had that gnawing hate in the back of her mind as Logan and she knew sometimes Scott did, to actually kill someone or something because they felt so strongly that it was wrong. Compromise, maybe...come to an agreement, but never kill. 

But now...she wasn't sure. She was startled at the realization that if the thing that had done this to Logan would show itself right now, on this very street corner, she would use a blast of telekinesis to send them soaring into whatever the hell she could find, then use her mental powers to render them into a state of torture. 

She just wished that she could feel all of Logan's pain for him... 

"Jean," he choked out, a few single tears struggling to be free from those amber eyes, "I can't tell you how much you mean to me. When I see you, I feel ashamed of the things I did before I met you, and I wish so hard that I could just start my life over. ...And sometimes I think, I don't deserve this woman. Someone like me could never hold a candle to someone like Cyke..." 

Jean reached out and soothed him with her mind, telling him that wasn't true. 

"--But I know how much I love you, and I think to myself that no one could ever possibly love you with the heat I feel, or to the extent I feel it. It hurts, Jeannie. It hurts to love you as much as I do." 

Jean looked up to the dark night sky, showering cold liquid gems... Years ago she would have been out on a night like this, alone, on the roof of the mansion looking up into this same sky, her eyes scanning the heavens, searching for answers to never-ending questions. She used to believe the sky to be the most consoling and steady thing in her life, even including she and Scott's relationship. But the sky never changed, never would change, would always be there, no matter where in the world she was. Vast and deep and mysterious, it held all the secrets of the universe. On stormy nights such as these she used to like to believe she could hear them whispered between the raindrops. 

So lost and unsure she was back then. Now, sitting here with Logan, she didn't need a single question answered, left those secrets to fall in peace. As long as she could just have him beside her, feel his touch every night, she could wait that lifetime and be patient, knowing everything would be explained in time. 

"That sadness I see in your eyes when I'm with Scott, that pain I see in the middle of the night because your nightmares are getting too real, I was to make all of that go away." She spoke suddenly and Logan nodded, neither of them able to distinguish tears from raindrops now as he pulled her closer to him. 

"If Scott cared for you, Jean, like I do, he'd let you make the decision. And I know he does, baby...it ain't gonna be easy...." He whispered into her ear, brushing a lock of wet hair from her neck. 

"I know, I know." she whispered back with her voice and her thoughts, but barely audible either way. Never had she feared something so much, but also needed to do it to be able to breathe again. 

Jean knew what she had to do, and knew Logan would be beside her every minute. But not tonight. Tonight she needed Logan with her. She placed a soft hand on his chest. 

"Don't leave me tonight, Logan. Stay, please..." 

Neither of them gave a damn about the consequences this could result in, or even if Scott were to come around the bend right now and see them. Logan needed Jean with him as much as she needed him, like the driest of deserts needs that desert storm to cool it down, to keep it sane. 

He squeezed her tight, kissing those angelic lips that he never wanted to stop kissing, that was like coming mouth to mouth with ecstasy in every sense of the word, feeling though this world was so cruel, so forsaken, he had found a heaven, or as close as he would ever get to it, on earth. 

"Forever, Jean."


	9. The taste of a poison paradise

Wow. I haven't updated in months! I decided I'm just going to post the rest of the story all at once, before I forget! I hate leaving stories cut off. Anyway if any of my old readers come back, or even new ones, I hope you guys like it. :-D Keep the Jean/Logan pride alive!!  
  
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The convertible pulled up smoothly to the side of the road, a crunching noise beneath the tires told Jean that Logan had parked a bit messily, halfway on the white sand a little ways off the beach. He grabbed the keys out of the ignition, threw them up in the air and caught them before pocketing them and grinning over at Jean.  
  
Jean smiled back. Finally...this was going to be the perfect contrast to being cooped up in this car for two and a half hours. Not that it wasn't fun, she was with the man she loved, the air was refreshing, the ride soothing, and God knows she was glad to be out of the hotel for once this week...but anyone with legs like Jean's would need a break after having them cramped up in that little space for that amount of time.  
  
  
  
"After you, babe."   
  
  
  
Jean looked up. Logan was standing beside the open door, fingers resting lightly on the handle.  
  
  
  
"Why thank you, darling..." A smile formed at the corner of her mouth as she put a slight British twang on that last word.  
  
  
  
, . ; * , ;  
  
  
  
The brilliant bronze sun was melted across the sky now, a good two hours before sunset. From shore, one could see a white speed boat skimming at high speed, zigzagging rapidly, out into the never-ending waters of the Pacific.  
  
Inside the boat, Logan was standing manning the controls, a silly grin plastered on his face at the suggestion from Jean that he really didn't know what the hell he was doing.  
  
  
  
" 'Course I do, Jeannie. This isn't my first time in one of these things."  
  
  
  
"Then maybe you wouldn't mind slowing down a little!" Jean yelled over the roar of the engine, a hand permanently grasping the sunglasses to her eyes in a vain attempt to keep them from flying off.  
  
  
  
"Last time I asked, you told me you liked it fast, baby."  
  
  
  
Jean snorted dismissively and decided not to reply to that...  
  
Instead she turned her head to the wind. It was so much more refreshing now in the open ocean air than it was traveling in that blazing desert landscape. Also, before they had set out both she and Logan had shed a few clothing items in favor of some lighter 'swimwear'... Jean had a navy two piece on now instead of the tank top and jeans, and the cool air felt absolute heaven on her hot skin.  
  
After a moment of indulging herself and getting lost in the swirling whirlpool of breezes, she glanced up at Logan once more.  
  
He was standing calmly, unaware of her eyes on him, his hands resting softly on the rim as he leaned against the side of the boat. His dark eyes looked concentrated and languid, staring out into the burning horizon, his hair blowing restlessly in concert with the wind. Jean's eyes then traveled lower to his bare chest, dog tags clinking slightly with the breeze, and then lower to rest on his pair of rugged and baggy forest green shorts. They were cut off a bit below his knee, and a grin crossed Jean's lips thinking before when she had asked him about that, he had replied seriously, 'I don't do swimming suits.'  
  
She held back the laugh that was threatening to rise from her throat, she didn't want him to look over, she wanted to keep gazing at him. It was moments like these, when Jean could see such depth in his features, in his eyes, in his thoughts as they drifted in the air, that she could hardly believe how helplessly, blissfully in love with him she was.  
  
  
  
  
  
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"So where exactly do you get your clothes, Logan?" Jean mused, messing around with a few buttons on the black over-shirt she held in her hands.  
  
  
  
"Uh, I 'dunno. Can't remember." He waved a hand vaguely, his backed turned to her as he dug into the cooler that sat on the floor of the humming boat.   
  
  
  
Jean eyed him, her eyes concentrated and still.  
  
  
  
"Thrift store," she blurted out after a moment. "Yeah, definitely thrift store. Totally!" She grinned, more sure of her conclusion with every following word. "It just screams your name..." She put on a dramatic face and held a hand in the air. " 'Logan!' "  
  
  
  
"Screams my name, eh...sounds familiar..."  
  
  
  
"Oh, God. Do you always have to do that? Jean groaned, throwing her head back and laughing.  
  
  
  
"What?" he looked back to her with his best innocent face.  
  
  
  
"Make sexual innuendos out of everything I say?"  
  
  
  
"Oh, right. That." He grinned and tossed her the small bundle of ripe cherries she had requested earlier, which she separated in midair, swirled around to form another bundle, and let one fall into her mouth from their suspended position in the air.  
  
  
  
"Love that power of yours," Logan muttered playfully. Jean smirked and let another fall from the air into her mouth.  
  
  
  
Pausing after chewing for a moment, she sniffed a little at the air, then looked around until her eyes came to rest on his shirt once more. Brining it closer to her face, she smelled it.  
  
"This smells like you," she commented.  
  
"Does it..." Logan laughed.  
  
"What cologne do you use?" She asked, and then sniffing it again, added, "'Sex and Beer?'"  
  
"Close."  
  
Jean laughed again and twirled the shirt around her bare shoulders, slipped her arms through and smiled up at Logan.  
  
"How do I look?"  
  
"...Damn sexy," Logan replied truthfully after a moment, raising an eyebrow and staring over at her.  
  
The wind flew through her hair with just enough intensity to give it the effect of a hypnotic fire, locks burning and dancing like licking flames. Her skin glowed a shimmering, delicious caramel color in the sunset, his black shirt billowing back slightly from her shoulders and stomach, revealing tempting glimpses of skin. The smile on her lips melted over Logan, making him feel hot all over. The only thing he could think of to make this moment any better would be if he could just see those eyes...  
  
From where he sat, Logan reached over and ran a warm hand up her leg, up, up, creeping closer to her until he was kneeling right in front of her. She smiled and placed a hand on his cheek, drawing him in. As his hot lips grazed her neck, his fingers came up to slide the sunglasses from her eyes and he glanced into them, the vibrant emerald glittering more vividly than those lights of New York City that Logan was so used to staring at as he glanced out of his window each time the sun went down..  
  
"Your eyes, Jean," he whispered, trailing off....he didn't think she truly knew how amazing they were.  
  
"They're nothing compared to yours," she breathed back and then kissed him hard, her lips and teeth biting at his. How ironic, she thought, how wonderful these kisses were and how she craved them so much, but she could never get enough to completely satisfy her, to drench the fire in her that Logan provoked. Like on a blazing summer day, you would drink and drink, just because it felt good to you. But the sun would beat down and down, it wouldn't stop, but you would keep drinking. Like an addiction. No point to it, because there was no way to quench that thirst, but the temporary feeling of that liquid ice pouring down your throat was bliss.  
  
She could kiss Logan for a thousand years but it would never be enough.  
  
He moved a hand from her hair to her ribs and stomach, the other creeping down her back and she began to breathe harder between those insatiable kisses. Logan must have felt the same way, he whispered for her to come closer. Jean's slender arm snaked around his neck, fingers loosely running through his hair, the other forcing their bodies together.  
  
A moment later Logan pulled away slowly, stood and swept Jean up in his arms, then switched her places all in one remarkably smooth movement. She readjusted herself slightly, one leg on either side of his lap before running two fingertips lightly across his bare chest. Logan's lips curved into a smirk and he whispered into her ear, slipping a hand into his black shirt that fell about her hips....  
  
"You taste sweet, like cherries..."  
  
Jean's left eyebrow came up in an amused arch, and she shot a glance to those abandoned pieces of fruit that sat right beside them, fingers coming to rest upon one and bringing it to her lips.  
  
  
  
"Do I really?" she mumbled, leaning forward and gripping his shoulders, a crimson, sugary sour cherry clenched between her teeth.   
  
Logan leaned his head forward to take it from her mouth, but with a flick of her tongue she swallowed it.  
  
"Evil woman," he grinned. "At least let me taste a little, it's only fair."  
  
Jean made a small expression as if to say 'true', and tilted in, running a tongue along in his mouth but quickly pulled away again.  
  
"It's not nice to tease, Jeannie..."  
  
"What are you gonna do? Ground me?" she smirked.  
  
"No..."  
  
-snikt-  
  
"...but I do..."   
  
He ran a claw ever so lightly along the edge of the bottom half of her bikini and kissed her neck, making her moan deep in her throat,  
  
"...have my way with you..."  
  
"Yeah, I--ah--beg to differ..." her voice was threatening to crack from small gasps; his warm fingers lightly touched the base of her neck now.  
  
"Jeannie," he said after a minute, pulling away.  
  
Jean pulled her head forward reluctantly, opening her eyes languidly.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"I have something for you," he shifted from his position under her and went to the corner of the boat. Digging around in the bag they'd brought their swimming things in, he pulled out something small. Before coming back over, he twisted the keys out of the boat's ignition. The motor slowed then stopped completely, the air around them suddenly a million times quieter, the water softly splashing around them suddenly a million times louder. 


	10. All you dream

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He knelt beside her again, the small object hidden behind him in one hand. With the other he reached up and covered her eyes.  
  
"Don't look, it's a surprise," he mused.  
  
She grinned suspiciously and kept her eyes softly shut after he removed his hand. The feel of him shifting and movement beside her now, followed by the sound of water swishing around gently. A gasp escaped her throat as a sudden icy jet of water splashed across the skin just below her belly button.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" she laughed.  
  
"Sh! Don't open your eyes, I'm not done yet."  
  
"I'm not," she laughed again and tilted her head back, squirming slightly from the cold water which was now trickling icy drops down her thigh. She felt Logan press something onto her skin, then more water. An eyebrow arched questionably above her left eye though she still kept them closed.  
  
A few moments later she felt him peel whatever it was off. Now a hand rested on her hip and Jean felt a very contrasting sensation of his warm lips at that spot, leaving a delicious tingling feeling, and she giggled.   
  
"All right babe, you can look now."   
  
Jade eyes fluttered open slowly and she glanced down.  
  
A pure black imprint was elegantly etched on her skin, as if it was burned onto it. It was of a sleek black jungle cat with piercing white eyes and such great majestic poise and grace.   
  
"My God," Jean ran a finger along it. "It's beautiful." "I thought a panther rather symbolizes you," Logan grinned. "And you've always told me you'd love to get a tattoo."  
  
"You bring out my wild side, that's for sure."  
  
"Do you like it?" he asked after a moment.  
  
"I love it." She kissed him lightly. "I'd never be brave enough to get a real one."  
  
"I think you're a lot braver than anyone knows, even yourself, Jean."  
  
She smiled, and stroked his cheek softly.  
  
"Where did you get it?"  
  
"Back at the hotel gift shop. This one stood out. Reminded me of you. You really are brave, Jean. Brave, bold, strong. And kind, unbelievably kind. You're just amazing, and I want you never to forget that...especially when you decide to go and...talk to Scott..." his voiced trailed off, and for the first time in days he looked very vulnerable.   
  
Jean's expression saddened and she pulled him closer, his head resting in her lap as she gently ran her fingers through his hair. "I won't forget it, Logan."  
  
She looked out at the horizon, it was full sunset now. Smooth orange silk spread across the sky like fire, vibrant scarlet touches here and there, violet and deep blue merging at the ocean line.  
  
Jean thought how amazing it was that something like this sunset could be so undeniably perfect, when something in life could be so exactly opposite and they could exist with each other in peace. Sighing, she hoped that at least some of her troubles would be gone within a few days. Suddenly she felt Logan run a few fingers along the panther tattoo, and she looked down at him.   
  
In stories she had always read about great symbolism, something concrete representing something so much more. Something that seemed to make that person or character invincible and empower them, like wands or silver goblets in old medieval tales.   
  
Never did she think it actually happened in real life. But somehow, she felt what Logan had given her had been so much more than just and object.  
  
She reached over to put her sunglasses back on with one hand, her eyes still fixed straight ahead at the horizon, while the other hand ran soft circles against Logan's cheek.   
  
"Thank you again, Logan. It's going to help me more that you can know when I go talk with him."   
  
There was a pause now, but Jean could tell he was smiling by the way the corners of his cheeks lifted beneath her fingertips. She grinned as well.  
  
"Only lasts two ta' three weeks, Jeannie, better get a move on."  
  
Jean laughed and then slid off the seat to stretch her legs out in front of her. She leaned back against the edge of the boat and Logan returned his head to her lap. The sat for a long time in the open silence. Miles from shore and not a single person or living thing in sight. Just ocean waves crashing and sky spreading out above them endlessly.  
  
Jean thought she could definitely spend a few weeks in tranquility like this, especially since for as long as she could remember, being around water always calmed and inspired her.  
  
"What if," she began her voice soft and breaking the long silence, "we never went back?"  
  
Logan laughed.  
  
"That tattoo gettin' to your head and making you want to break more rules?"  
  
"Rules are made to be broken, Logan," she smiled and paused. "I'd love to just run off somewhere and start a new life. Now, especially. It's tempting, don't you think?"  
  
"Mmm," growled Logan, playing along with Jean's fantasy, "the Bahamas? Australia?"  
  
"Sounds fantastic. Tell me what we would do there."   
  
Leaning back she smiled and closed her eyes as Logan began to speak.  
  
"Well," he said, "I've always wanted to see Australia, so we'd live in the heart of Sydney...we'd just cross this ocean and stay there. I could win money from lucky poker games in those smoky fish bars on the pier, you could set up a mind-reading stand on the beach-" she laughed, he smiled- "we could buy everything we'd ever need with little...borrow everything else. We'd go out on the Pacific every night in this very boat, and watch the sunset, thinking about life and how it would have been if we had gone back that night so long ago..." Jean sighed and took his hand.  
  
"If only."  
  
"Yeah," Logan muttered and settled back down against her stomach, his mind filling with the scent of her skin, like deep lavender lilacs on a warm summer evening.  
  
They entangled their fingers together and Jean brought their hands to her shoulder, where she rested her head on them. So relaxed, their bodies melting into one another's like this, as if it was their only purpose.  
  
"I'm going to tell him tomorrow, when we get back to the mansion..." Jean said softly, firmly. "And nothing will ever be the same." 


	11. Rules are made to be broken

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Twenty minutes later, the sky had been stained a deep, brilliant blue and was slowly blackening with the hint of bright silver stars and a beautiful night to come.  
  
Logan and Jean headed back to the shore, and returned the rented boat to the dock. When they got back to the car finally, night had almost fully set in. Jean leaned up against the warm hood as Logan flung their bag into the backseat.  
  
"Almost as gorgeous as the sunset," Jean said, pointing to the sky and the few shimmering stars it held.  
  
"Mmm, yeah," Logan murmured and walked back over, placing two hands on her hips and leaning his head against her shoulder.  
  
"I was going to say a while ago, but I forgot...that sunset reminded me of the one up on top of the roof at the mansion all those months ago."  
  
Jean smiled. "I was thinking the same thing."  
  
"I'm sure the night would have looked something like this, if we had stuck around to see it." he grinned.  
  
Laughing, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.  
  
"Thank you so much for bringing me out here. It felt so good...felt like we were breaking all those ancient rules of the world," she sighed, "having such a great time when other people are out there suffering."  
  
"But," Logan began after a moment, "rules are made to be broken."  
  
They both laughed softly. Jean pulled away a moment later and smiled that smile she saved just for him, and that made him ache to kiss her. So he did.  
  
"Mmm," she muttered, pulling away and twirling the car keys around her finger that she had snatched from his baggy pocket just then. "We'd better head back, they'll be wondering where we've been all day. I'm driving," she added, grinning and heading to the front seat.  
  
Logan hopped shotgun.  
  
"Driving me crazy," he laughed.  
  
FIN  
  
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And curtain! Haha. Hope you guys liked it. :-D Again, keep the Jean/Logan pride alive!! Keep reading and writing their fan fic! :-D 


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